Americans Like People Who Speak Like They Do

Half of adults think speakers with Southern accents are nice, British accents are sophisticated and New York City accents are rude

New York, N.Y. - January 26, 2011 - Accents are a funny thing. Certain ones prompt stereotypes, which might be why people often deny having an accent. Yet, when asked about various attributes, Americans living in the East, Midwest and South all give more flattering responses about the accents from their areas than do adults from elsewhere.

When asked to think about hearing various accents half of adults say they think speakers with a Southern accent are nice (49%), two in five say the same for speakers with a Midwest accent (40%), one in five say those with a British accent or New England accent are nice (19% and 18%, respectively) while less than one in ten say so for speakers with a New York City accent (7%).

Half of adults also think those with a British accent are sophisticated (47%)-far more than adults say so for any other accent (between 20% for New England accents, down to 6% for Southern accents). And, while half of adults think that speakers with New York City accents are rude (51%), very few adults say the same for any other accent listed (between 14% and 4%).

Regional Differences

Despite speakers sometimes denying their regional accent, adults award accents from their own area more positive descriptions and fewer negative ones, than adults from other areas do. For example:

Southerners think that speakers with Southern accents are nice (59%) and honest (45%) more often than those from the West (42% and 28%), East (44% and 29%) and Midwest (45% and 31%) do;

While just over one in ten adults think that speakers with a New York City accent are intelligent (12%), a higher percentage-18%-of those in the East say this, compared to fewer in the Midwest (12%), West (11%) and South (10%) who say the same;

Similarly, one in six Easterners say those with a New York City accent are honest (16%), compared to very few in other regions who agree (between 4% and 6%); and,

On the opposite end of the spectrum, although most adults think speakers with New York City accents are rude (51%), only 46% of Easterners agree, compared to more Midwesterners (54%), Southerners (54%) and Westerners (48%) who say this.

This pattern continues as Midwesterners say that speakers with a Midwest accent are well-educated, intelligent, nice and honest more frequently than adults from other regions say the same. In fact, over half of Midwesterners (55%) say someone with a Midwestern accent is nice compared to 42% of Westerners, 36% of Easterners and just 31% of Southerners who say this.

Does this matter?

Americans cheerleading for their own regional accents is not limited to complimentary adjectives-U.S. adults think that their accents would actually beat out the others in a competitive job market. When asked if four equally qualified applicants for a certain job were only differentiated by their accent, two in five adults (39%) say that the applicant with the Midwestern accent would get the job. However, 63% of Midwesterners say this compared to between 41% and 21% of adults from the other regions who do.

With regard to other regions, a quarter of Easterners say the job would go to the person with the New England accent (26%) compared to fewer adults from elsewhere who agree (between 17% and 9%). One in five Easterners (19%) also say it would go to the New Yorker (compared to between 14% and 7% of those from other areas), and one in five Southerners (18%) say it would go to their applicant, compared to very few adults from elsewhere who agree (between 7% and 3%). Easterners are also more likely than other regions to say the job would go to the person with the British accent (27%).

So What?

Although TV news and other media personalities often work to overcome distinctive regional accents, it doesn't seem that local inflections are bothersome, at least not to an audience from that area. However, it might be interesting if speakers are skilled enough to play up their accent, or not, depending on their situation - it appears there may be circumstances where a different style of pronunciation could work well to one's advantage.

TABLE 1

ACCENT ATTRIBUTES

"When you hear each of the following accents, do you tend to think the speaker is…?"

Base: All adults

Southern accent

British accent

New York City accent

Midwest accent

New England accent

%

%

%

%

%

Nice

49

19

7

40

18

Un-educated

38

2

14

10

4

Honest

34

13

7

39

16

Intelligent

9

37

12

21

27

Well-educated

8

39

12

18

31

Dishonest

7

5

34

3

7

Sophisticated

6

47

13

8

20

Rude

6

11

51

4

14

None of these

18

18

20

21

22

NA - I don't hear this accent

8

14

12

16

17

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 2

ACCENT ATTRIBUTES - SOUTHERN

"When you hear each of the following accents, do you tend to think the speaker is…?"

Summary of Southern accent

Base: All adults

Total

Region

East

Midwest

South

West

%

%

%

%

%

Nice

49

44

45

59

42

Un-educated

38

40

46

32

38

Honest

34

29

31

45

28

Intelligent

9

8

7

13

8

Well-educated

8

9

4

11

7

Dishonest

7

8

8

6

8

Sophisticated

6

8

3

7

5

Rude

6

5

4

7

7

None of these

18

21

14

18

20

NA - I don't hear this accent

8

10

10

6

9

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 3

ACCENT ATTRIBUTES - NEW YORK CITY

"When you hear each of the following accents, do you tend to think the speaker is…?"

Summary of New York City accent

Base: All adults

Total

Region

East

Midwest

South

West

%

%

%

%

%

Rude

51

46

54

54

48

Dishonest

34

29

36

35

33

Un-educated

14

15

11

15

14

Sophisticated

13

15

13

14

10

Well-educated

12

15

13

12

10

Intelligent

12

18

12

10

11

Nice

7

12

6

4

9

Honest

7

16

5

4

6

None of these

20

22

15

18

24

NA - I don't hear this accent

12

11

15

12

10

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 4

ACCENT ATTRIBUTES - MIDWEST

"When you hear each of the following accents, do you tend to think the speaker is…?"

Summary of Midwest accent

Base: All adults

Total

Region

East

Midwest

South

West

%

%

%

%

%

Nice

40

36

55

31

42

Honest

39

33

53

34

37

Intelligent

21

12

31

20

23

Well-educated

18

11

28

15

19

Un-educated

10

14

7

11

7

Sophisticated

8

7

11

7

6

Rude

4

7

2

5

3

Dishonest

3

5

2

4

2

None of these

21

21

15

22

24

NA - I don't hear this accent

16

19

13

17

15

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 5

ACCENTS OF JOB APPLICANTS

"If there were 4 people equally qualified for a certain job and the only different was their accent, do you think that the person with the following accent would get the job?"

Base: All adults

Total

Region

East

Midwest

South

West

%

%

%

%

%

Mid-west accent

39

21

63

32

41

British accent

22

27

17

24

21

New England accent

16

26

9

15

17

New York city accent

13

19

7

11

14

Southern accent

10

7

3

18

7

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States December 6 and 13, 2010 among 2,331 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

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